Effect of feeding pomegranate seed oil as a source of conjugated linolenic acid on Arabian stallion semen quality in cooled and postthawed condition

The objective was to assess the influence of pomegranate seed oil supplementation on the quality of fresh, cooled and frozen–thawed Arabian breed stallion semen. Eight stallions (n = 4 per group) received their normal diet (control group) or normal diet top dressed with 200 ml of pomegranate seed oil (PSO group). Semen was collected every fifteen days for 90 days. Stallions were reversed across the treatments after a sixty‐day interval. In cooled and stored condition (2, 12 and 24 hr), spermatozoa motion characteristics, membrane integrity, viability, morphology and lipid peroxidation were analysed. In frozen–thawed semen, sperm dynamic characteristics were analysed by CASA, acrosome status and mitochondrial activity (evaluated by Flow cytometry) determined. The effects of treatment, time, semen type and their interactions were submitted to PROCMIX (SAS^®), and means compared by the Tukey test. Also, collected semen samples were artificially inseminated to evaluate fertility and pregnancy rate after day 60 of the experiment. The results from fresh condition showed that semen volume, sperm concentration, abnormality and live sperm were not affected by dietary treatment (p > 0.05). In cooled condition, the higher value for sperm plasma membrane integrity and viability was observed in PSO group compared to control after 24 hr cooled and stored in 5°C. In postthawed condition, the higher value for CASA total motility and acrosome status was observed in PSO group compared to control group (p < 0.05). One hundred and twenty‐six mares were artificially inseminated for fertility trial using control and PSO groups’ fresh semen. The average pregnancy rates were not significantly different between control and treated group (62.88% and 65.90%, respectively) (p > 0.05). We concluded that under the conditions of this study, dietary supplementation of 200 ml pomegranate seed oil seems to relatively improved Arabian horse sperm quality during storage in cooled and frozen condition via increasing plasma membrane integrity, viability and acrosome status, but did not improve the pregnancy rates.     

Antioxidative effect of BHA in soya bean lecithin‐based extender containing Glycerol or DMSO on freezing capacity of goat semen

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of butylated hydroxyanisole (0 or 4 mM) along with different concentrations (5 or 7%) of glycerol (G) and dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) as cryoprotectant (CPAs) on freezability of goat semen. Semen was collected from four bucks (3–4 years) twice a week for five weeks. The pooled ejaculates were diluted with extender containing two different concentrations of G or DMSO in combination with BHA. Afterwards, the diluted samples were loaded into 0.25 ml straws and frozen using a standard protocol. After thawing motility parameters, viability, membrane integrity and total abnormality were assessed. The Results showed that the presence of BHA in extender, type and level of CPAs as main factors had significant effects on goat sperm viability, total and progressive motility after freezing–thawing processes (p < .05). Also, the interaction of BHA (0 and 4 mM) and levels of G or DMSO (5 or 7%) had a significant effects (p < .05) on total motility, viability and some characteristic. In this case, the addition of 5% G or DMSO with BHA resulted in highest motility and viability than the other groups (p < .05). The addition of G5 (with and without BHA) increased VSL and reduced abnormality than the other groups (p < .05). The results showed that the main effects of CPAs and CPAs level on membrane functionality were significant (p < .05). Also there were no significance differences in the interactive effects of MDA, VCL, VAP, ALH, LIN and STR among the groups (p > .05). Finally, it can be concluded that the use of 5% CPAs with or without BHA may result in better post‐thaw sperm quality of goat.     

Determination of optimum carcass weight for meat quality and fatty acid composition in fat-tailed male and female Chall lambs

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The aim of this study was to determine the optimum carcass weight for meat quality and fatty acid composition in fat-tailed Chall lambs. Thirty lambs (15...